{"database": "openregs", "table": "crs_reports", "rows": [["R49319", "China\u2019s Diplomacy: Selected Issues for Congress", "2026-08-25T04:00:00Z", "2026-08-28T14:38:48Z", "Active", "Reports", "Ricardo Barrios", null, "The People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC or China) uses diplomacy to influence governments, publics, international organizations, and international affairs across the world. Under Communist Party of China (CPC) General Secretary Xi Jinping (2012-present), the PRC has adopted a more dynamic, expansive foreign policy vision than that which the PRC had articulated since the 1990s. This more dynamic vision has led the PRC to launch multiple large-scale global initiatives that aim to influence development, security, and values internationally. Increasingly, PRC efforts to shape the landscape in these areas, and others, have implications for U.S. foreign policy and interests.\nA socialist state under the leadership of the CPC, the PRC appears to be pursuing several goals by diplomatic means, according to scholars and analysts. These goals include safeguarding a broadly defined conception of national security; blunting U.S. power and influence relative to the PRC\u2019s own, such as by promoting multipolarity; using diplomacy to isolate Taiwan, to unify the PRC with the self-ruling island; reforming international institutions; and fostering economic growth and technological development, which may in turn enhance the PRC\u2019s diplomatic capabilities. Policymakers, scholars, and analysts hold divergent views with regard to the PRC\u2019s ultimate foreign policy goals. Some argue that the PRC seeks global hegemony and to usher in an \u201cantidemocratic order\u201d with itself at the center. Others contend that the PRC wants \u201cstatus and authority without responsibility\u201d and is \u201cmore inwardly focused than externally oriented.\u201d Others yet suggest that the PRC seeks regional primacy in the Indo-Pacific, but has more modest ambitions globally. In his address at the CPC\u2019s 20th National Congress in 2022, Xi articulated the goal of building the PRC \u201cinto a great modern socialist country that leads the world in terms of composite national strength and international influence by the middle of the century.\u201d\nAlthough the PRC\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducts most of the party-state\u2019s diplomacy, ultimate authority over foreign policy rests in the CPC Central Committee and, in particular, its Central Foreign Affairs Commission. Numerous other entities, including CPC bodies, government ministries, state-owned and private enterprises, state-affiliated organizations, state media, and local governments all play roles in China\u2019s foreign affairs. PRC foreign policy has exhibited several distinctive characteristics over the past five decades including an explicit emphasis on state sovereignty; the eschewing of mutual defense agreements and formal alliances, and the development of semi-hierarchical \u201cstrategic partnerships\u201d; and the prioritization of the United Nations (UN) and broader UN system, which the PRC maintains is at the \u201ccore\u201d of the international system. \nToday, the PRC engages with other countries and international institutions in many traditional areas of international affairs, including international development and international security. The PRC has engaged in what it calls \u201cinternational development cooperation\u201d to varying degrees for decades, which reflects, in part, the PRC government\u2019s efforts to leverage export promotion to fuel economic growth and advance China-centered and China-controlled global infrastructure, transportation, trade, production networks, and standards. China\u2019s increasing efforts to position itself as a third-party mediator in international conflicts and use its veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council also illustrate growing PRC influence over and interest in matters related to international peace and security. PRC ambitions to isolate Taiwan have at times shaped its bilateral and multilateral engagements.\n\nSince the 115th Congress, some Members of Congress have placed PRC diplomatic activity within the context of competition between the United States and the PRC. In the 119th Congress, Members have introduced legislation with provisions related to U.S. competition with the PRC, such as monitoring the PRC\u2019s diplomatic posture, countering its purported foreign malign influence, and leveraging U.S. foreign assistance to gain the upper hand in \u201cstrategic competition\u201d with the PRC. Other pieces of legislation seek to address PRC activity in, or cooperation with, third countries and international institutions. During the 118th Congress, the House passed H.Res. 11, which established the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (SCOC) \u201cto investigate and submit policy recommendations on the status of the [CPC\u2019s] economic, technological, and security progress and its competition with the United States.\u201d The House retained (via H.Res. 5) the SCOC during the 119th Congress, broadening the committee\u2019s jurisdiction to include policy recommendations to counter the \u201cideological threats\u201d posed by the CPC to the United States and U.S. allies and partners.", "https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R49319/R49319.2.pdf", "https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R49319.html"]], "columns": ["id", "title", "publish_date", "update_date", "status", "content_type", "authors", "topics", "summary", "pdf_url", "html_url"], "primary_keys": ["id"], "primary_key_values": ["R49319"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.18906686455011368, "source": "U.S. government sources, plus a few identifier registries; each is listed on the methodology page", "source_url": "https://datadawn.org/methodology#data", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}